Blandarinn er á borðinu við hliðina á skálinni.

Because Icelandic usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun.

• blandari = blender
• blandarinn = the blender

Here, -inn is the masculine singular nominative definite ending. The noun blandari is masculine, and it is the subject of the sentence, so it appears in the nominative.

Because borðinu means the table, and it is in the dative case.

Breakdown:

• borð = table
• borðið = the table in nominative/accusative
• borðinu = the table in dative

In á borðinu, the preposition á is expressing location, meaning on the table, and with location it commonly takes the dative.

For the same general reason as borðinu: it is definite and dative.

• skál = bowl
• skálin = the bowl in nominative
• skálinni = the bowl in dative

In the phrase við hliðina á skálinni, the noun after á is in the dative, so you get skálinni.

It is a common expression meaning next to or beside.

Literally, it is something like at/by the side of:

• við = by, at, against
• hliðina = the side in accusative
• á = of/from the older structure of the phrase, but synchronically learners should treat við hliðina á as a fixed expression
• skálinni = the bowl in dative

The safest way to learn it is as one chunk:

• við hliðina á + dative noun = next to + noun

Because the two á’s are doing different jobs.

1. á borðinu
   Here á is the normal preposition meaning on.

2. við hliðina á skálinni
   Here á is part of the fixed phrase við hliðina á, meaning next to.

So although the same word appears twice, the structure is not repetitive in the same way it might seem in English.

hliðina is accusative singular definite of hlið (side).

That is because the phrase starts with við, and við normally takes the accusative in this expression:

• við hliðina á ... = next to ...

So inside the phrase, you get:

• við
  • accusative → hliðina
• á
  • dative → skálinni

This is a good example of why prepositional phrases in Icelandic often have to be learned as full patterns, not word by word.

The nouns here are:

• blandari — masculine
• borð — neuter
• skál — feminine

Gender matters because it affects:

• the form of the definite article
• case endings
• adjective agreement, if adjectives are added later

For example:

• masculine: blandarinn
• neuter: borðinu
• feminine: skálinni

So when you learn a noun in Icelandic, it is best to learn it together with its gender.

This is the normal straightforward word order for a main clause:

• Blandarinn = subject
• er = verb
• á borðinu við hliðina á skálinni = place phrase

So the sentence follows a basic pattern similar to English:

• The blender / is / on the table next to the bowl

However, Icelandic is a verb-second language, so other word orders are also possible if you move another element to the front:

• Á borðinu er blandarinn við hliðina á skálinni.

That is still grammatical, but the original version is the most neutral and beginner-friendly.

Yes. Á can take either dative or accusative depending on meaning.

A very common rule is:

• location → dative
• motion toward a place → accusative

So:

• á borðinu = on the table → location → dative
• á borðið = onto the table → motion → accusative

In your sentence, the blender is already there, so this is location, which is why you see borðinu.

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• Stress is usually on the first syllable of Icelandic words.
• á is a long vowel, roughly like ow in some pronunciations, but cleaner and more fronted.
• ð in borðinu is like the th in this.
• ll in skálinni is not pronounced like ordinary English ll; Icelandic ll often has a special sound, and learners usually need to hear native audio to get it right.
• The r is typically rolled or tapped.

A rough learner-friendly approximation might be:

• BLAN-da-rinn er ow BOR-thi-nu vith HLI-thi-na ow SKYAHT-lin-ni

That is only approximate, but it can help you get started until you hear native pronunciation.

In Icelandic, there is usually no separate word for the indefinite article a/an. So the bare noun is often used.

For the individual nouns:

• blandari = a blender
• borð = a table
• skál = a bowl

With case endings, forms would still change depending on the sentence. The important point is that Icelandic usually marks the by attaching an ending, but a/an is usually just unmarked.

So one big thing to notice in this sentence is that all three nouns are definite:

• blandarinn = the blender
• borðinu = the table
• skálinni = the bowl